A Daring Escape

The weather has been abysmal the last week, alternating between pouring with rain, blowing a hoolie or a combination of both. But a short dry spell this afternoon gave me an overdue opportunity to clean out the chickens and quail in the garden.

The Topknot Gang are in fine form although Trixie is still limping. I don’t know what she has done but she won’t let me get anywhere near her to check her over. Even corn or sunflower seeds don’t work! However, when she’s in the nest box tonight, I’ll pick her up and check her over. Nimbus finally is almost back to her usual fluffy self after a hard moult. Aperitas and Cirrus are definitely in charge, demanding first dibs on any and all treats.

Over in the other Omlet, Coco shouts louder than all the others although this isn’t enough to put her in charge. She did not agree with today’s photoshoot and disappeared into the nest box as soon as the camera came out. At the moment, Aurora and Cumulus are running the coop with iron beaks. Arcus is definitely at the bottom of the pecking order and I had to separate her from an over zealous Cumulus. Unfortunately, disagreements between the girls are more common as Flockdown shows no signs of ending any time soon. I’m planning on adding some boredom busters over the next few days to try and keep them occupied.

My first job was to catch all the quail and transfer them safely into a pet carrier. Surprisingly, the transfer was really quick and easy and while Quentin Quimby and his girls explored the carrier, I cleaned out their coop. I brushed out their little wicker house and cleaned out their food and water bowls. In went the new bedding and it was time to put the quails back into their home. Easier said than done! I reached in and caught Quentin without any drama. I checked him over before putting him in and noted that his beak might need a trim. Once he was in the coop, I turned around to catch the next quail to find the pet carrier door ajar. As I reached down to close the door, Quinn dashed out and boldly made her way across the patio towards the chickens.

Now, unlike chickens, quails are excellent flyers. I had nightmare visions of Quinn launching herself over the wall into next door’s garden. Slowly, I crept up behind her and in one movement, grabbed her and launched myself back towards the coop. I shut the side of the coop on her whilst muttering under my breath about idiot birds. Queenie knew what was coming and put up quite a fight, displaying her considerable disapprobation by pooing all over my hands. And that is all the thanks I got for cleaning out the quail coop.

Feeling unappreciated, I went across to the red Omlet and shut the girls out into the run. In a matter of minutes, the old bedding was out and the new in. I promised the girls I would do a full clean out of their coop later. Nimbus and Cirrus were the first back inside to inspect my work. Nimbus immediately began to scratch and throw the bedding around. I have spotted a chicken bath box online which I think would be a great way to stop the girls destroying the new bedding in the nest box.

With two coops down, there was just one left. I repeated the process and the same chaos insued. So my job this evening is to find two of those chicken bath boxes from somewhere!

While I was sorting out the chickens in the garden, my husband was busy at the allotment checking on our other girls. He came home with good news – everyone was happy and healthy. So assuming the weather remains relatively dry over the next few days, I’m planning on cleaning out the greenhouse and doing a proper dog over a couple of the beds.